Saturday, October 06, 2018

Navarathri 2018 -

Navarathri and it's Significance

The Nine day Navarathri Festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and exhorts mankind to wake up from the slumber of ignorance, remove all negativities, purify the mind and cultivate postive virtues. It is devoted to the worship of the divine Mother in various forms under different names and Alankarams. Nava means "Nine" and "Ratri" means night. During the nine-night long festival of Navaratri the supreme female cosmic power or Goddess Shakti is worshipped in her variously manifested forms as Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati. All three Goddess are the incarnations of Goddess Shakti (the Mother Goddess). The festival signifies power, wealth, prosperity and knowledge.

Significance of Chandi Homam

Attainment of health, wealth, prosperity, longevity, food, wealth, progeny,fame, success, strength etc, removal of fear, ailments danger, defeat in the hand of adversaries etc. By performing the homa five times, evil planetary influences are removed. The performance of this homa seven times removes all fears, performance eleven times begets royal influence and sixteen times begets progeny. The core of the homam ceremony involves a recitation of the Durga Saptashati or 700 verses in praise of the goddess Durga. With the recitation of each verse, offerings are made in the sacrificial fire invoking the goddess. The Durga Saptasati is a 13-chapter narration from Markandeya Purana attributed to the rishi Markandeya.In a workbook-like, fascinating, allegoric way the verses demonstrate how the Goddess Chandi vanquishes and annihilates the two demons Shumbha (or Pride) and Nishumbha (or Shame), slaying the negativities of Indulgence and Denial, restoring the equilibrium necessary for perfection.